Picking Up The Pieces
by ohmyhotch
Summary: Emily Prentiss has lost her memory of everything, except for Lauren Reynolds. Will Hotch and the team be able to piece things back together? Established Hotly. Multi-chapter
1. Chapter 1

**I feel particularly happy with this new story. I'm really excited about it, and I hope you all enjoy!**

**So, we'll see exactly what happened through a flashback that should be coming up soon!**

**As usual, I own nothing!**

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><p>"How long has it been?" David Rossi asked, breaking the silence that had settled over the waiting room of the hospital waiting room. Several members of the team shot up in their seats, startled from the half-sleeping stupor some had fallen into. None of them could fully fall asleep.<p>

"Ten hours, seventeen minutes and fifty seconds," Spencer Reid replied almost immediately, before quickly looking back down at his hands.

"It's been so long since we've heard anything, I'm gonna risk going to get coffee," Morgan announced, standing up. "Anyone want anything?"

"Blueberry muffin and something with a lot of caffeine," Garcia said, looking up.

"Mmm. Make that two," JJ agreed, nodding.

"Anyone else?" Morgan asked again, scanning the faces of his tired coworkers. "I'm getting' all of you something anyway. None of us have slept in two days," he shrugged when no one answered.

The eyes of every team member followed Morgan as he exited the room, and the silence settled back in. It had been ten hours, and no one had said much. No one wanted to voice their fears. They all wanted everything to be okay, so no one mentioned the fact that it might not be.

"Aaron? Are you okay?" Rossi asked, moving across the room to where Aaron Hotchner had been sitting for three hours with his elbows resting on his knees, and his forehead in his open palms. The others might not have noticed it, but with Dave's experience it was obvious something was eating at his friend even moreso than it was for the others.

Hotch raised his head, and slowly sat up. He remained silent for a while, then his eyes met Rossi's. "After all she's been through, why her?" he asked after taking a long deep breath. It had been shown time and time again that Aaron Hotchner wasn't the kind of person to voice his fears, especially in a situation like this one, but this was different. "Dave, I was supposed to go in with her, but she decided to go alone while I was stuck in traffic. She's been in the BAU long enough to know not to go somewhere without backup. Especially when we've all but 100% confirmed who the unsub is," Hotch paused, looking at the floor. "Before she went in, she called me and asked if I wanted her to wait. I asked what she thought, and she told me that she thought the little girl inside didn't have enough time for me to get there, so I told her to go in."

"I know what you're going to say next, Aaron," Dave said slowly, before Hotch could add anything else. "You're going to say that it's your fault. This is by no means your fault. You wouldn't have told Prentiss to go in alone if you hadn't thought she was right about Amelia not having enough time for us to wait."

"Yes. And Amelia is fine, isn't she?" Hotch replied, his usual composure was completely gone, replaced by bitterness. "Emily isn't,"

"She probably wouldn't be if Em hadn't been there to help," Rossi countered. "She knew the risks. She got hurt. Aaron, it may take some time, but all injuries heal. She's been in surgery for so long I think she's past the point where death is imminent,"

"Some injuries never do heal, Dave,"

"Alright, but the bad ones normally do, at least to a point where you can live with them," the older man allowed. "She has all of us to help her,"

"Are you all here for Emily Prentiss?" a heavy set nurse asked as she entered the private waiting room.

"Yes," Garcia and JJ answered eagerly at the same moment.

"Is she okay?" Morgan asked as he re-entered the room with breakfast and coffee for everyone.

"She's out of surgery, she's in the ICU," the woman explained, her face didn't look too grim, which the profilers among the group took as a good sign.

"Can we go see her?" Garcia asked hopefully.

"The doctor said he'll allow one visitor for the moment. She'll be waking up soon, and he wants a familiar face there for when she does, but no more. He doesn't want her to be overwhelmed."

"You go," Dave told Aaron. "She'll probably want you there," he added with a knowing wink, before standing up and walking to the others.

Taking another deep breath Hotch stood up and walked over to the nurse.

"Keep us updated, Hotch" JJ called after him.

"I will," he replied, nodding.

"Take some food, man. You haven't eaten in a long time," Morgan said, handing over a boxed blueberry muffin and a large coffee.

"Thank you, Derek," Hotch said, accepting the food and drink.

"Miss Prentiss should be very happy to see one of her friends when she wakes up," the nurse told him, smiling, as she led him through a maze of hallways to Emily's room.

"I hope so," Hotch told her quietly as they entered the sterile hospital room. Emily's bed sat in the middle surrounded by beeping monitors. He avoided keeping his eyes on her for too long as his eyes swept the room. On one side of the bed sat a typical worn, dark blue recliner. Hotch crossed to it and sat down, absently sipping at the hot coffee. He didn't trust his stomach enough to eat.

"I take it you're one of her friends?" a young surgeon with dark hair asked, entering the room and holding out his hand for Hotch to shake.

Aaron nodded and firmly shook the man's hand, rising from the chair. "Aaron Hotchner. Yes I am, as well as her boss," _and boyfriend, _he added mentally.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Doctor Bird." the doctor nodded, releasing Aaron's hand. "Miss Prentiss' injuries were extensive, ranging from broken ribs to several concussions. Some mild, some more severe. We're confident she'll make a full recovery, but I'll be honest, with so many injuries you can't be positive,"

"I understand," Hotch replied slowly.

"She should be waking up any minute, call me in when she does, I'd like to check on her,"

"Of course,"

"Thank you," Doctor Bird said, exiting the room.

Hotch sank slowly back into the chair, wondering what exactly what might be lasting. He didn't have much time to think before Emily spoke up softly.

"Where am I?" she asked groggily, causing Hotch to nearly fall from the chair as he stood.

"Doctor, she's awake!" he called out the door before crossing back to the side of the bed. "Emily? You're in the ICU, you were hurt,"

"Hello Agent Prentiss!" Doctor Bird greeted cheerfully, although Hotch could tell he was being cautious.

Emily's face was full of terror as her eyes flickered between Hotch and Doctor Bird. "W-who are you? And who is Emily Prentiss? My name is Lauren. Lauren Reynolds,"


	2. Chapter 2

**I wrote this in like an hour. I'm proud of myself. So, not much is happening yet. We don't even see the team's reactions because I'm evil and I decided to end it there. **

**Guys, I love you! Thanks for all the reviews, alerts and favorites! Keep it up! :)**

**Also, if you'd like to see anything happen, let me know and I'll see what I can do!**

**Again, I own nothing!**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>"So what exactly does this mean?" Aaron asked in a hushed tone as Doctor Bird led him into the hallway outside Emily's room. He was doing his best to remain calm until he heard all the details of the situation, as well as the doctor's opinion, but it was proving more difficult by the second as the reality of what was happening set in and more and more answerless questions bombarded his rattled brain. As soon as Emily had spoken, more questions had stumbled drowsily from her mouth. When an incredibly shocked Aaron Hotchner had been unable to answer any of them, it had been obvious her panic levels were rising. Why wouldn't they? She didn't know what was going on. She had no idea why she was in a hospital with two strange men speaking to her. Of the two of them, she must have been more comfortable with Doctor Bird. He was a doctor, after all. Hotch was just... Hotch. It didn't matter that he loved her, because she didn't remember it. After Doctor Bird had realized how panicked she truly was, he had ordered her sedation.<p>

Taking a deep breath, the doctor met Aaron's anxious eyes. "There are several possibilites we're looking at now." he began. "One, and this isn't too likely considering the severity of the amnesia that Miss Prentiss seems to be presenting, is that the anethesia had a strange side effect. In this case, she should be back to normal within a few hours. Keep in mind, though, that this is very unlikely, although nothing is impossible with something as mysterious as amnesia. It seems to me that this was probably caused by the more severe of her concussions. There could also be more severe injuries to her brain that were overlooked initally. Because of this I'm ordering several more tests to help us determine exactly what's going on and how to approach the problem. Until then we're going to keep her sedated so she doesn't injure herself due to the manifestation of panic we've seen already. We're going to do our best to bring her back, Agent Hotchner. I can't promise anything, but until all methods have been exhausted, and even then, I won't give up."

Aaron sighed and looked down. He'd been suspecting as much. For a long moment he felt as though he couldn't speak. The words simply wouldn't come. "Thank you, Doctor," he managed finally, his emotionless mask flickering on. He needed to protect himself from the rampage of emotions flooding his system until he had the time to process all of this. "Notify me when you learn anything, or if anything changes," Aaron said, stepping into the room to take the muffin and coffee. He had no intention of eating now, not that there had been much desire before. He took one more long look at Emily before drawing in a long breath and finally expelling it. The next step was to tell the rest of the team. All of them had been so ready to see Emily and get this hellish day over with. A surprise like this would devastate them. To be honest, he didn't know how he was handling things so well.

A few long moments later he found himself wandering the hallways of the hospital. It didn't bother him that he really had no idea where he was, or how to get back to where he'd started. He needed a place to think. Somewhere to think of what to tell the others. He couldn't face them with the news yet. Glancing up at a brightly lit sign, Aaron found himself standing outside the hospital cafeteria. A smaller sign below the main one indicated that it was open 24/7. With a small sigh he stepped inside the room and numbly sat in the nearest plastic chair. Glancing at his watch for the first time in hours, he realized it was the middle of the night. No one else, apart from the woman working the cash register, occupied the large room.

"Are you alright, honey?" a voice piped up after what had to have been nearly half an hour of silence. Aaron looked up to see the woman from the cash register looking down at him worriedly. When he didn't answer she sat down and began speaking. "Well, it's often I see worried friends, spouses, loved ones... all kinds of people... come in here to think. I assume that's why you're here as well. Anything you want to talk about? If you don't want to, that's alright, but I've found that it can help," she offered kindly. "The name's Marisa, by the way,"

"Aaron," Aaron replied quietly, debating whether to tell Marisa what he was thinking. "My friend... well, I guess she's more than that, but regardless. She... she was in an accident. She doesn't remember who she is, or who I am. I have to go tell the rest of our friends, and I don't know how to do it,"

"Tell 'em the truth, Aaron. There's nothin' else you can do," Marisa replied, standing up. "Good luck,"

"Thank you," he nodded, rising from the chair. She was right. He had to tell them. Aaron exited the room and slowly worked his way back to the waiting room where the team remained, anxiously awaiting news.

"Hotch, is she okay?" Garcia asked standing up when he entered the room.

"See his face?" Morgan said grimly. "Something's wrong,"

"We... didn't lose her again, did we?" Reid asked, tears welling in his eyes.

"No. Something like that would break even Hotch," JJ shook her head.

"Let the man speak," Rossi piped up. "Aaron, what is it?"

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Hotch met the eyes of his friends and teammates one by one. "She doesn't know who she is. She thinks she's Lauren Reynolds. The doctor doesn't know how permanent it is, if it's at all permanent. He's running tests, and... and he'll let us know when he finds anything out," he sighed, feeling the tears he'd successfully held in finally sliding down his cheeks as the words made the situation real. "There may be no getting her back," he whispered, looking down.


End file.
